How simple steps can protect and save farm lives and others

While the stats vary according to the source, it is clear that knowing what to do in the face of a serious injury helps prevent many deaths from trauma before a casualty reaches hospital.

The repercussions of an injury at any level above minor can ripple out widely, affecting not only the injured, but also the wider workforce and the business.

Lone working risks and the fact that emergency services can take a long time to reach many farm locations make it all the more important that those on the spot know what to do when there is an incident or an emergency. 

See also: Health and safety policy – what farmers need to include

Serious injury training

Ryan McCormack is Farmers Weekly’s farm manager of the year 2025, managing Dennington Hall Farms near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

This covers 1,600ha, of which 1,200ha is regenerative arable, while meat from the farm’s Red Poll cattle is increasingly sold direct to consumers but also supplies restaurants and butcher-ready carcasses.

Safety training has been stepped up on several fronts for Ryan’s team of assistant manager, two full-time operators and two part-time work experience students.

“In the past year we purchased a defibrillator for the farm and the entire team completed CPR/BLS (cardiopulmonary resuscitation/basic life support) training and automated external defibrillator level two training.

© Tim Scrivener

“All team members have also undertaken the farm lone worker serious injury course. All now know how to deal with a serious injury on themselves and how to resuscitate and use the defibrillator on others.”

This training cost £300 through DAC Education, which also supplied the defibrillator at £1,065.

A timesheet app lets Ryan check on his phone who is still at work and who has gone home for the evening. “This means I can check that any staff members working late have gone home safely.”

DAC Education managing director Dave Coyle reminds employers that The Health and Safety (First-Aid) Regulations 1981 require employers to provide employees with the right kit and training for the risks they face.

This led him to devise his firm’s lone worker training, alongside many others.

The regulations apply to all workplaces, including those with fewer than five employees, and to the self-employed.

Hi vis lowers risk

On the Faccombe Estate in Hampshire, manager Al Brooks, is also the independent judge for the farm manager award category.

He has a strict policy of yellow hi-vis being worn at all levels when at work, provided by the business.

“It’s part of the deal – if you’re walking across the yard, you wear hi-vis. The onus is on the employer to provide personal protective equipment (PPE), so make it part of the uniform.”

The farm also has a policy of no denim at work – if it gets wet, it quickly gets tight.  

Dean Clarke/Alamy Stock Photo

Helmets on quads are obligatory and each employee can be provided with their own helmet. Hearing protection is freely available and the business also provides sunscreen, safety sunglasses and gloves.

Tool-box talks on health and safety are held twice a year, and casual conversations can be had which “happen” to have a safety angle, suggests Al.

He also organises more than basic first aid training.

“First aid training that is not the normal course, but rather one that deals with chainsaw wounds, gunshot wounds and stab wounds and so on is graphic and more relevant,” he says, as is getting someone in front of staff that is missing a limb due to a farm machinery accident.

It’s about simple rules to reduce risk, says Al, for example, never drive forward into a space if it can be avoided – following this reduces the risk of accidents when reversing out.

Further examples include always propping machinery appropriately while attaching or working on it, and when using kit where there is the risk of flying stones, such as a topper, always lower the tractor’s rear screen.   

Mobile phones on the move

The past 10 years have seen several people jailed for 10 years or longer, having caused deaths by mobile phone use while driving.

Using phones on the move is a risk to the user and to others, and is a growing problem, says Oliver Dale, managing director of farm safety specialist Safety Revolution.

“Increasingly I see phones being used on the move and, unfortunately, it’s the proverbial accident waiting to happen,” says Oliver. “You look up at a tractor stopped at traffic lights and the driver is using their phone.”

He advises imposing strict conditions on how and when mobile phones may be used at work and banning the use of personal phones while at work, instead issuing work mobiles.

This does not mean family and other personal contacts cannot be contacted while at work, but the parameters on phone use must be clear, he says.

“It’s about managing down mobile phone use, always leading to prevention.   

“People [employers] may baulk at the cost of providing mobile, but I think it’s a very sound investment. Cost can be moderated because a work phone doesn’t have to be the latest model, it doesn’t have to have top level functionality.

“It should also be part of the policy that ‘in case of emergency’ contacts such as managers and family should be in that phone, as well as emergency procedures to be followed.”

The farm accident stats are still stacked against older and younger people, points out Oliver, and in the case of younger people in particular, the use of phones and especially social media is a growing problem for individuals and businesses.